Couch: Ranking the top 10 Michigan State football true freshmen all-time

Other than the opening game, there is perhaps nothing more anticipated in college football than the early August arrival of a freshman class at fall camp and the hope that comes with it. It’s the last time recruits who chose your school are still unblemished by the realities of college football or their own limitations.
Once in a while, a newbie, fresh out of high school, is ready to not only contribute but to also stand out in ways that change the season ahead. It’s happened several times at Michigan State throughout the 50 years true freshmen have been eligible to play.
Here are the top 10 ever to do it at MSU (excluding kickers and punters) — players who stepped onto the field from Day 1 or close to it and made a difference. The criteria is only their performance and impact as true freshmen.
1. Sedrick Irvin, running back, 1996
No MSU freshman has ever arrived with more sizzle and then immediately lived up to his billing than Sedrick Irvin in 1996. “Swervin’ ” Irvin, a Miami, Florida, native and distant cousin of NFL great Michael Irvin, was the prize of Nick Saban’s second recruiting class at MSU, after also verbally committing to Auburn, Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida State and Miami.
Irvin gave MSU swagger and confidence right away and at a time the program needed it. He scored four touchdowns in his first game, the 1996 season opener against Purdue. “I’ve been telling you the guy’s a player,” Saban said after Irvin’s debut.
Irvin was a sizable running back — 6-feet and 210 pounds when he arrived — but was an elusive runner. He rushed for an MSU freshman-record 1,067 yards that first season, averaging 4.5 yards per carry, while scoring 16 touchdowns for a 6-6 MSU team which finished 5-3 in the Big Ten. Irvin also caught 40 passes in 1996, which remains an MSU freshman record, even among receivers.
2. Dan Bass, linebacker, 1976
There’s an argument that Dan Bass could be No. 1 on this list. His surprising freshman season in 1976 was that good, the beginning of one of the great careers in MSU history (his 541 career tackles is a mark that’ll never be surpassed). Bass, a local kid from Class C Bath High School, arrived at MSU at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, a late recruit by Denny Stolz, before playing his career at MSU for Darryl Rogers.
Bass got the start at inside linebacker in the 1976 season opener at Ohio State and never gave the job back. He had 16 tackles against Notre Dame that season on his way to a team-high 111 as a true freshman. Bass and Greg Jones are the only players ever to lead MSU in tackles four straight seasons. Bass’ nose for the football and productivity were on display right away for a 4-6-1 MSU football team beginning the first of three seasons on probation.
3. Javon Ringer, running back, 2005
Javon Ringer’s freshman season was among the more eye-popping in Spartan history. His 6.7 yards per carry in 2005 is tied (with Steve Smith in 1978) for the best average by a featured back in the Big Ten era of MSU football. Ringer cracked 100 yards three times in his first season, including 194 yards on 13 carries in a win over Illinois. His 817 yards remain the second most by a freshman at MSU, behind only Sedrick Irvin.
Ringer, from Dayton, Ohio, wasn’t big, but he had powerful legs and became the Spartans’ primary rusher and best home-run threat during a promising MSU season that went south after an infamous mid-year loss at Ohio State. Ringer would eventually go on to play a pivotal role in the program’s early success under Mark Dantonio.
4. T.J. Duckett, running back, 1999
No MSU freshman has ever dragged tacklers into the end zone like T.J. Duckett did to a number of Penn State defenders on Nov. 20, 1999. A memorable 11-yard touchdown rumble, his fourth score of the day, gave the Spartans a 35-28 win, their ninth of the season, clinching a New Year’s Day bowl in what turned out to be Nick Saban’s final game as MSU’s coach.
Duckett, 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds with freight train speed, was a force at tailback, a freak athlete — the No. 2 recruit in the country, out of Kalamazoo — who also played linebacker some that first season at MSU. He rushed for 606 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 5.1 yards per carry as the backup to senior Lloyd Clemons. A former high school quarterback and linebacker, it took Duckett a while that season to become the complete back he became later and perhaps was by the time he carried 22 times for 159 yards against Penn State, running through and around the Nittany Lions.
5. Jeff Smoker, quarterback, 2000
Before Jeff Smoker became a prolific passer, before the off-the-field struggles and his reclamation season in 2003, he was a five-star recruit, the second-ranked QB in the nation, hoping to redshirt behind Ryan Van Dyke. An injury to Van Dyke in the 2000 opener put Smoker under center. And while the job wasn’t entirely his the rest of the way and he was far from the passer he became, he did have three game-winning drives that season, most famously the pass on fourth down to Herb Haygood to beat Notre Dame.
Smoker became the first true freshman at MSU to start a game since 1982 and none have started since. In nine games in 2000, he completed 103 of 297 passes for 1,365 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions for a 5-6 team that lacked a go-to receiver. He often kept drives alive with his feet, including a fourth-down sneak from MSU’s own 29-yard line in the opener against Marshall that helped save the Spartans from an embarrassing defeat.
6. Greg Jones, linebacker, 2007
Not since Dan Bass 21 years earlier had a true freshman led the Spartans in tackles. Greg Jones did so in 2007 with 78, with 8.5 of them behind the line of scrimmage, along with 4.5 sacks. He started seven games at strong-side linebacker and stood out in big games, with 14 tackles in a narrow loss at No.1-ranked Ohio State and a sack and forced fumble against Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl.
If Minnesota hadn’t fired Glen Mason after its bowl game at the end of the 2006 season, Jones, a Cincinnati native, never would have been a Spartan. He wound up being Dantonio’s first recruit to become a star and a key player in the initial ascent of the program in the 2000s.
7. Josiah Scott, cornerback, 2017
When Mark Dantonio compared Josiah Scott to Darqueze Dennard before Scott had ever played a down at MSU, it was met with skepticism. But Scott lived up to Dantonio’s expectations right out of the chute. He was a starter from Day 1, with confidence and closing speed that hadn’t been seen in coverage since Dennard and Co. with the “No Fly Zone.”
As a freshman, Scott led the Spartans in pass break-ups with 10 and had two interceptions and a forced fumble in 12 starts. He was generously listed at 5-foot-10, but played with a fearless edge and knack for the position that, after his junior year, made Scott a fourth-round NFL draft pick. You could see it immediately.
8. LJ Scott, running back, 2015
LJ Scott was an important recruit in the Mark Dantonio era — the first Ohio player coveted by Ohio State that chose MSU. He quickly became an important player, rushing for 699 yards at 4.8 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns for the Spartans’ 2015 Big Ten championship team and College Football Playoff squad. None of his touchdowns were more important than his spinning, reaching score to beat Iowa in the Big Ten championship game.
Scott shared carries his first season with Madre London and Gerald Holmes, but he was the go-to guy late in games, the closer. At his best, he was a great runner in tight spaces and a critical piece of the last great MSU team of Dantonio’s runs.
9. Le’Veon Bell, running back, 2010
Le’Veon Bell was the epitome of the best of Mark Dantonio’s recruits — bafflingly unheralded and looked the part of a five-star prospect right away. Bell averaged 5.7 yards per carry in 2010, rushing for 606 yards and eight touchdowns, while catching 11 passes for 97 yards on Dantonio’s first Big Ten championship team.
Bell burst onto the scene with 10 carries for 141 yards and two scores in the opener against Western Michigan and then, two weeks later, rushed 17 times for 141 yards and a touchdown in the famed “Little Giants” overtime win against Notre Dame. Bell’s torrid pace slowed in the second half of the season as Edwin Baker heated up and became the featured back. But Bell’s start played a significant role in a 6-0 start, including wins over Wisconsin and at Michigan.
10. Reggie Garnett, linebacker, 1993
Reggie Garnett arrived at MSU as a Parade All-American from Akron, Ohio, with expectations that he’d be the next Percy Snow. He didn’t disappoint as a true freshman in 1993, earning Big Ten freshman of the year honors and starting much of the season at middle linebacker. Coach George Perles described Garnett after Garnett's seven tackles in his debut against Kansas, “His mistakes are great athletic mistakes. When he hits, he hits like a ton.”
Garnett finished the 11-game regular season with 77 tackles. His interception against Purdue in November that season set the stage for a narrow win over the Boilermakers. His pick against Ohio State a month earlier kept the Spartans in the game against the Buckeyes. At 6-2 and 220 pounds, Garnett was a dynamic athlete at middle linebacker and it showed right away.